Q&A: ‘OK, Computer’ With Tom Vander Ark

Here’s a straightforward education-reform thought experiment: Suppose you had an interest in reforming public education in the United States, you believed deeply that reform was necessary, and you happened to have a few hundred million dollars at your disposal to spend on reform. How would you make use of the opportunity? Where would you invest your capital? This is the thought experiment that became for all intents and purposes a job description for Tom Vander Ark in 1999, when Bill Gates tapped him as the first Executive Director of Education for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s education and scholarship programs.